Rob Caldera has been part of the Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) since he was a 15-year-old shooting guard and second basemen for St. Joseph’s Parish in Astoria.

Even then, Caldera was more interested in how the league was organized than the game itself, as evidenced by his batting average. That interest took Caldera to St. John’s University where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in athletic administration.

“I always paid more attention to what the coach was doing, what the referee or umpires were doing,” Caldera said. “I always was very observant to what was going on behind the scenes.”

Now Caldera runs the show. He was appointed director of CYO in July and already has plans for expanding the organization to parishes that are not involved.

“We have about 90 to 100 active parishes in CYO, and we’re looking to increase that to where every parish is at CYO over the next few years,” he said.

Caldera also hopes to expand the opportunities the kids have through both athletic and non-athletic activities such as a band and music and cheerleading programs.

“The focus is on the kids, the athletes,” he said.

Prior to getting the director job, Caldera taught English, physical education, social studies, and religion while coaching basketball and baseball at several Catholic schools.

He also served as the athletic director at St. Joseph’s for baseball and later basketball before becoming the parish athletic representative, which he did for 17 years.

However, he decided he could not give up the opportunity to move up in the organization.

“I’ve always been part of it,” he said. “I couldn’t imagine myself not being a part of it. When this opportunity came to be, I thought this is absolutely where I want to be and need to be."